Last week, we posted a United fare from San Francisco to Shanghai. Long time readers know that United fares are the best if you want to take advantage of stopovers in Asia. Using the step by step instructions from our last The Stopover post from San Francisco from a while back, we were able to price out:
- 3 days in Hong Kong
- 10 days in Shanghai
- 3 days in Tokyo
for $672. Play around with it to get the optimal number of days in each stopover. It is a manual process and trial and error.
If you can make our dates work, enjoy. This is an inexpensive way to visit 3 countries for about the same price as just visiting Shanghai. Please use the step by step instructions The Stopover post to search and buy this.
Sailing in Hong Kong – Photo: Prachanart Viriyaraks via Flickr, used under Creative Commons License (By 2.0)
Sample Travel Dates:
- April 13th: San Francisco – Hong Kong
- April 17th: Hong Kong – Shanghai
- April 27th: Shanghai – Tokyo
- April 30th: Tokyo – San Francisco
Basic – Shanghai Fare Rule:
Before we get started, let’s have the basic fare rule for the Shanghai fare:
- Valid for travel on the outbound March 15th – April 30th. Two stopovers are permitted for $100 each. One per direction, none in Guam.
How to Search for Availability:
- Please read our step by step instructions from our last The Stopover post
Fare Class:
- United: K
- All Nippon Airways: K
- Cathay Pacific / Dragonair: S
Elite Qualifying Dollars:
- $556.81
Routing:
- SFO – HKG (Hong Kong) – PVG (Shanghai) – NRT (Tokyo) – SFO. Segments within Asia can be operated by Dragonair, Air China, Cathay Pacific, or All Nippon Airways
Mileage:
- Miles Flown: 13,948 miles or 4.8 cents per mile
- Elite Qualifying Miles: 12,609 miles or 5.3 cents per mile
- Redeemable Miles: 2,784 miles
How to Book:
- Please read our step by step instructions from our last The Stopover post
Accommodations
- TripAdvisor - One of the leading hotel meta-search engines. Find the lowest hotel prices from 200+ sites.
Car Rentals
- Rental Cars - One of the world’s leading car rental agencies. Includes all the major brands like Hertz, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise etc.
Activities and Tours
- Viator – The world's largest marketplace for destination activities and tours
Background Information:
China:
- Visa: US Citizens – required prior to arrival. $140. Other nationals, check the TIMATIC Visa Database
- Currency: Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY) – $1USD = 6.08 CNY
- How to Visit Shanghai or Beijing for Up to 72 Hours without a Visa
Hong Kong:
- Visa: US Citizens – Not required. Other nationals, check the TIMATIC Visa Database
- Currency: Hong Kong Dollar (HKD). $1USD = 7.8 HKD
Japan:
- Visa: US Citizens – Not required. Other nationals, check the TIMATIC Visa Database
- Currency: Japanese Yen (JYP) $1USD = 119.94 JPY
Tips for saving when using credit cards at international destinations:
- No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards to save on international purchases
- Don’t get hit with Dynamic Currency Conversion
- Get your taxes refunded when shopping
- How to Avoid International Data Roaming Charges
For more of the latest cheap San Francisco / Bay Area Flight Deals:
* The Flight Deal will receive a commission if you use the accommodation or car rental affiliate links to make a booking or apply and is approved for a credit card using our link above. Thank you for your continuing support.
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I just read the Stopover post, it’s an amazing post! Can I do this too if I plan to book an award seat in First or business using united miles? what is the rule on the stopover and open jaw and also does the $100 fee for adding a stopover can be applicable here? Many thanks!
@John – award rules are different. On united, we believe its one stopover + open jaw on a round trip itinerary. So you can do SFO – Hong Kong (stopover) – Bangkok // Singapore – SFO. On an award ticket, there’s no extra cost for stopover other than additional taxes being collected. We are not that well versed on United miles, but we know its the last major airline program that allows for stopovers for free on roundtrip award tickets
That’s awesome to hear that we can get free stopover and open jaw on a roundtrip award flight.
I really like the route that you said, SFO- HKG(stopover) – BKK for outbound and then SIN-SFO for inbound. So only for for BKK – SIN leg that I have to find a low cost carrier for one-way ticket, right?
I am curious on how can you know and able to come up with cities that we can add as stopover? Like SFO – HKG -BKK….I even couldn’t think of that. Is there any special website or post on this?
Can I also do SFO-Hawaii(stopover) – ICN or NRT for outbound and then ICN/NRT – SFO inbound? is this also a valid routing too?
Many thanks in advance for your help and I will also try to support you as much as I can by using your affiliate link whenever I want to book hotel, rental cars, etc!
@theflightdeal,
Would you please help with my question above? I am ready to plan and book the flight and hotel, car rental etc….and for sure I will use your link to support.
Please help, I appreciate your help.
@John – that looks like a valid routing.